Folding table



N. 1.. B. PAGE ET AL Sept. 4, 1928.

FOLDING TABLE Filed March 1927 3 Jollnanens p Patented Sept. 4, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT Ol-FMZE.

NELSON L. 3. PAGE AND JOHN C. EMERSON, F AUBURN, MAINE, ASSIGNORS TO N. L. PAGE & SON (10., OF AUBURN, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

FOLDING TABLE.

Application filed March 7, 1927. Serial No. 173,280.

. In card tables and like folding structures in which a plurality of legs are to be collapsed for compactness in storage and bandling, certain recognized structural types have become accepted as conveniently familiar, but in such structures there have developed defects and difliculties that have been desired to be remedied without materially departing from the operative features familiar to the public. Taking the so-called card table as an example, we will point out first a few of these defects for which our invention provides a remedy. In the first place, it has becomecnstomary for the purpose of lightness 1 and cheapness to make such tables with a top of fibre board. This board is of insufficient strength to sustain itself under ordinary usage and it has been proposed heretofore to brace it in various ways, one common commercial form being a diagonal brace or truss member running from corner to.corner of a square table.

Such a brace is not only unsymmetrical but complicates the rest of the structure and does not afford support for the thin top on the opposed triangular areas into which it divides the square table top. Other types of brace have been suggested including square,

crossed and circular but while our invention in part contemplates a truss of the square cradle type, it is combined with the leg structure to secure new combinative advantages.

It has been found extremely desirable that the folding legs of the table be braced in two directions to overcome the wabbling tendency which becomes more and more pronounced as the table continues in use. While it has been easy to provide a brace between the table leg; and its adjacent rail, parallel to which it is folded in closed position, it has proved much more of a problem to find a substantial means of pivoting the other brace and various structures have been devised to cope with the problem but such have, as far as we are aware, been more expensive than it is desirable in such devices and less secure than is really needed.

Our invention contemplates a novel structure by which we secure a new trussing of the 0 table top and atthe same time a new system of side bracing.- These, together with other features of advantage, are shown in the accompanying drawing and discussed in the following specification.

6 Throughout the specification and drawing lilre reference characters are employed to indicate corresponding parts and,

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a View of thebottom face of a table with its legs folded.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 "of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 a perspective detail of one corner with leg erected.

Fig. 1 is a thimble-shaped leg bearing spacer. j

Our table consists of side rails 1 which are mitered and secured together at the corners 2 and which support a top member 3 which may be of the usual fibre board or like material. This is usually covered as at 4 with any desired material, the cover being held by a dowel 5 set in a groove in the mill, which is shouldered as at 1 to afford a bearing for the top member 3. The table top 3 is trussed by four members 6. These members are arranged to define a quadrilateral centrally of the table with its sides in parallelism with the table rails. Furthermore, each side of this central quadrilateral formed by the memher 6 projects as at 6' to a point adjacent that rail 1 towards which it is directed. It is bridge-braced to this rail by an angle iron 15 attached to the inner face of the rail and swung in the top of the end of the extension 6 so as to lie flush and give the top member 3 a smooth bearing. This provides a very strong cradle truss suspended at four points on the rail and united each to the other at four corners of the quadrilateral "formed by these four members'ti. The legs 7 of the table are pivoted on rivets 8 which pass through the upper end of the leg and, also through a cupshaped thimble 9 which'acts as a spacer to offset the legs 7 slightly from its adjacent rail 1 and give clearance for the jack-knife brace 10 which is attached at one end to the outer side of the leg and at the other end to the inner side of the rail. This provides bracing in one direction and bracing at right angles thereto is effected by the brace 11 which is pivoted on the same'rivet as pivots the leg end of the brace 10, which rivet is indicated at 12. The brace 11 is pivoted at its opposite end to the end of the extension 6 as indicated at 13, so as to be foldable with the leg 7 When the jaclckni'fe brace 10 is collapsed. The' pivot 13 is aligned with the pivot 8 so as to have a common center of rotation. When the leg 7 is collapsed, it lies between the end of the part 6 of the brace 6 and the adjacent rail, so that a full-length leg may be used.

It will be seen that a table or similar device made in this way is extremely simple, extremely strong and when folded is extreme ly compact. The cradle truss 6 being carried by the side rails with a four point suspension in symmetrical distribution affords a max1- mum support for the top 3 which is lightly tacked to the members 6 before the covering member 4 is applied.

The central portion defined by the truss member 6 while primarily a truss member forms also a pocket which may be made by applying a cover 14 to a lower face of the truss member 6 to make any sort of a pocket or receptacle desired for containing cards or other game implements or appliances.

Various modifications may be made in the design of the cradle truss in the manner of bonding the truss to the side rails and inv the design of the braces, all without departing from thespirit of our invention, if within the limits of the appended claims.

What we therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patents is:

1. In an article of the class described, an enclosing frame structure, a top member carried thereby and a truss member for said top comprising a plurailty of truss units disposed to form a central quadrilateral with its sides in parallelism with the frames of the table, each of said members extending beyond said central portion to a point adjacent to the side rail to which it is directed, a bridge bracket on each of said truss member ends and fastened to said rail, a table leg pivoted to said frame adjacent a corner thereof and parallel to one of said truss members with its point of pivot opposite the projecting end of the truss member, a collapsing brace between each leg and its adjacent rail and a rigid brace pivoted to said leg and to the end of the truss extension in alignment with its rail pivot.

2. In an article of the class described, an enclosing frame structure, a top member carried thereby and a truss member for said top comprising a plurailty of truss units disposed in parallelism with the frames of the table, each of said members extending to a point adjacent to the side rail to which it is directed, a bridge bracket on each of said truss member ends and fastened to said rail, a table leg pivoted to said frame adjacent a corner thereof and parallel to one of said truss members with its point of pivot opposite the projecting end of the truss member, a collapsing brace between each leg and its ad'acent rail and a rigid brace pivoted to said ieg and to the end of the truss extension in alignment with its rail pivot.

3. In an article of the class described, an enclosing frame structure, a top member carried thereby and a truss member for said top comprising a plurality of truss units disposed to form a central quadrilateral with its sides in parallelism with the frames of the table, each of said members extending beyond said central portion to a point ad'acent to the side rail to which it is directe a table leg pivoted to said frame adjacent a corner thereof and parallel to one of said truss members with its point of pivot opposite the projecting end of the truss member, and a rigid brace pivoted to said leg and to the end of the truss extension in alignment with its rail pivot.

4. In an article of the class described, an enclosing frame structure, a top member carried thereby and a truss member for said to comprising a plurality of truss units dispose in parallelism with the frames of the table, each of said members extending to a point adjacent to the side rail to which it is directed, a table leg pivoted to said frame ad j acent a corner thereof and parallel to one of said truss members with its point of pivot opposite the projecting end of the truss member, and a rigid brace pivoted'to said leg and to the end of the truss extension in alignment with its rail pivot.

5. In an article of the class described, an enclosing frame structure, a top member carried thereby and a truss member for said top comprising a plurality of truss units disposed to form a central quadrilateral with its sides in parallelism with the frames of the table, each of said members extending beyond said central portion to a point adjacent to the side rail to which it is directed, a bridge bracket on each of said truss member ends and fastened on said rail, 21 table leg pivoted to said frame adjacent a corner thereof and parallel to one of said truss members with its point of pivot opposite the projecting end of the truss member, and a rigid brace pivoted to said leg and to the end of the truss extension in alignment with its rail pivot.

6. In an article of the class described, an enclosing frame structure, a top member carried thereby and a truss member for said to comprising a plurality of truss units dispose in parallelism with the frames of the table, each of said members extending to a point adjacent to the side rail to which it is directed, a bridge bracket on each of said truss member ends and fastened to said rail, a table leg pivoted to said frame adjacent a corner thereof and parallel to one of said truss members with its point of pivot op osite the projecting end of the truss member, a collapsing brace between each leg and its adjacent rail, a rigid brace connecting said leg to the end of the truss extension in alignment with its rail pivot, and a member connecting the leg and braces to each other and providing a pivotal bearing for said braces.

7. A table comprising a top, enclosing frame rails therefor, a quadrilateral truss frame for said top having its truss units extending towards but terminating short of theframe rails, table legs pivoted to said frame rails, and rigid braces for said legs, 5 each brace pivoted at one end to'a leg and at its opposite end pivoted to the end of the truss unit opposite said leg, the pivotal connection of the brace with the truss unit be ing substantially in line with the pivotal connection of the leg with its frame rail.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

NELSON L. B. PAGE. JOHN C. EMERSON. 

